Former Minister and social activist B.T. Lalitha Naik said here on Saturday that the universal thoughts and values enshrined in the literary works of Kuvempu have not been imbibed by society at large including the educated sections.
She was speaking at a programme ‘’Kuvempu Kranthi Kahale – 50’’, organised by Jagratha Karnataka to mark 50 years of two speeches delivered by the poet laureate urging people to shun ignorance and sectarianism, and embrace reason.
Ms. Naik said Kuvempu’s poems and other literary works had called for eschewing superstitious beliefs rooted in religion besides exhorting people to shun temples, churches, and mosques but those views have not received wider appeal and society was regressing. The bulk of the population was steeped in superstitious beliefs and values that promoted social inequalities and hence, it was imperative to promote Kuvempu’s works on a larger scale, she added.
She rued that in the name of gods and religion people descend to any level and blamed it on the kind of politics that was being pursued in the present times.
Referring to the Keragodu saffron flag controversy, Ms. Naik said had the people been educated in the constitutional values, the incident would not have taken place at all. She cautioned that society will regress further if values espoused by Kuvempu was not cherished and popularised.
Writer L.N. Mukundaraj said independent thinking as promoted by Kuvempu was essential to break free from the shackles of regressive thoughts and beliefs failing which freedom would be in peril. He said the need of the hour was revolution in thought and not violent upheaval.
He said religion and gods were intoxicating and rued that not only were such values on the rise but writers, rationalists, intellectuals urging society to be on the guard against such beliefs were being lampooned. He said for Kuvempu, the country was god and a nation was not a mere geographical boundary but comprised its people and called for greater promotion of the universal and humanistic values of the poet laureate.
Culture and literary critic K.V. Narayan and others were present. Actor ‘Daali’ Dhananjay read excerpts from the iconic speeches of Kuvempu to mark the occasion.
